Rewiring the corporate brain: businesses need to adapt decision-making to the digital age

BearingPoint Institute study finds that empowering staff and clients with immediately available information leads to faster, smarter and better-informed decisions

Paris/London, December 1, 2015 – Companies need to harness digital to change the way they make decisions in order to survive the five shifts that characterize the digital age. This is the finding of a new BearingPoint Institute study based on a survey of 300 senior executives.

This first in a series of papers on decision-making in the digital age sheds light on why traditional business structures are struggling to keep pace with start-ups. The convergence of the physical and digital worlds requires an alternative response. Analysis of data from a first-of-its-kind survey in France, Germany, the UK and Nordic countries reveals that management teams have recognized that profound organizational changes are required to make faster, smarter and better-informed decisions. The paper shows traditional firms are marked by overly complex structures, systems and processes that hinder effective, dynamic decision-making.

Some of the key findings from the survey:

49% of respondents believe that new market entrants and more agile, digitally sophisticated companies are a significant threat

Immediately available digital information is 2.3 times more likely to result in a good decision-making process

When customers were directly involved in the decision process, it was 2.5 times more likely to lead to a good decision

Involving all staff levels is 2.2 times more likely to result in a good decision

The bottom line is that organizations need to stop relying on unilateral decision-making driven from the center. They must move towards a digitally enabled approach where they act as trusted peers in the global business economy. To achieve this, there needs to be a breakthrough in thinking from the top of the organization.

Eric Falque, member of the Global Management Committee at BearingPoint

It is evident from the study that there has been a paradigm shift in the decision-making process. Technology has changed how companies must adapt their decision-making. There are five, highly connected digital shifts that have upended the business world:

Intelligence everywhere: smart analytics creates an unprecedented data trove that enables and empowers not only a few executives, but everyone in the value chain

Rise of the machines: the Internet of Things (IoT) is a catalyst for new services and operational improvements

From value chains to the global village: a platform-based economy is opening up engagement with customers and suppliers

Trust is the new currency: companies need to trust in automation to augment the capabilities of their workforce while making privacy a principle of their brand promise

About the BearingPoint Institute

Founded in 2009, the BearingPoint Institute is an incisive, authoritative voice on business-critical topics, bringing together the finest minds from both within and outside BearingPoint. The Institute's ambition goes beyond traditional 'thought leadership’: we aim to equip business leaders with actionable insights and advance the science of management by combining our consultant’s experience 'in the field' with research into topical business issues. For more information, visit www.bearingpointinstitute.com, follow us on Twitter @institute_BE and LinkedIn http://inst.be/LinkedIn, or download the BearingPoint Institute iPad app https://bitly.com/BEIapp.

About BearingPoint

BearingPoint consultants understand that the world of business changes constantly and that the resulting complexities demand intelligent and adaptive solutions. Our clients, whether in commercial or financial industries or in government, experience real results when they work with us. We combine industry, operational and technology skills with relevant proprietary and other assets in order to tailor solutions for each client’s individual challenges. This adaptive approach is at the heart of our culture and has led to long-standing relationships with many of the world’s leading companies and organizations. Our global consulting network of 9,700 people serves clients in more than 70 countries and engages with them for measurable results and long-lasting success.